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Undertaking a Century: Brookfield's Hitzeman Funeral Home approaches its 100th year in business
Published in The Landmark
By Jessica Glowinski
August 20, 2003

No one knows why Frederick Hitzeman left his father's tailor shop back in 1904 to start an undertaking business in Chicago, but his decision to do so shaped the lives of his family members for the next century.

The business, which started in a frame house with funeral parlors on the first floor, living quarters on the second and horse stables out back has become the Hitzeman Funeral Home on 31st Street in Brookfield.

Since 1904, each of the four generations of the family has grown up either above, next door to or only a few blocks away from one of the Hitzeman funeral homes-the one in Brookfield opened in 1963, and the Chicago business closed in 1976-and each family member has been a part of the development of the business.

Frederick eventually passed the business on to his son Charles, who then gave control to his son Norbert. Today, Norbert's son Todd is the president of the Hitzeman Home, and, just recently, his son Chuck earned his funeral director's license. In addition, all the daughters and wives of the family have worked in the office.

The business has changed completely since Frederick opened the first funeral home. At the turn of the century, horse carriages were used for transportation so a funeral lasted all day, and wakes were held in people's homes. The business began using automobiles in 1916, with Charles working as the first hearse driver.

Frederick expanded the Chicago business in 1922. Decades later, Norbert pushed to open another funeral home in Brookfield on a piece of property Frederick had been given in 1945. After an eight-year struggle with the Brookfield village government to obtain the building permits, the Hitzeman Funeral Home in Brookfield was opened.

Like his father and grandfather before him, Todd began working at the funeral home as a teenager, driving the hearse, cutting the lawn, or doing other odd jobs for his father. Chuck remembers beginning the same way, dusting or vacuuming or washing cars through high school.

"We're firm believers in that you learn everything from the bottom up so that you knew everything that was going on, " Todd Hitzeman explained.

Both Todd and Chuck said that they always thought they would go into the family business. For Todd, there was only one other option besides funeral directing.

"I always thought I'd go into farming or funeral directing," he said, "and I don't know enough about farming to make a living.

To make sure that funeral directing was the profession for him, Chuck went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to study economics. At the end of four years, he decided to go for his funeral director's license. His experience working at the home helped him make his decision.

I'd hold the door open for families when they'd first come in, and they'd come back a few days later and their minds would be put to rest and they made it known to you that they were thankful to you for helping them through such an awkward time." Chuck Hitzeman said. "It's a good feeling."

This was also part of the reason Todd went into the business. He said that the best part of his job is, knowing that he's helping families during a difficult time in their lives.

"Helping people out is the biggest thing, making things run smoother and trying to help them put their lives back together again," he said. "It gives you a good feeling at the end of the day that you were able to do something nice for somebody.

This desire to help people has been theme in the Hitzeman family. Frederick, Charles, Norbert, Todd, and Chuck have all been members of their local Lions Clubs. Norbert and Todd have both been president of the Brookfield-La Grange Park Lions Club, and Chuck is currently serving as vice-president of the organization. The family is also active in the Chamber of Commerce and the St. Louise de Marillac Catholic Church.

"We just like it, we like helping people," Todd said. "We want to know what's going on in the community, and to support it."

For Chuck, these outside organizations provide him some downtime from the business.

"In a family-run business, we work all the time," he explained. "We don't have set hours; we work 365 days a year. It almost forces us to get outside and have some recreation."

This responsibility of constantly being on call is an acquired taste, but it's something all of the family members understand is part of the profession.

"My wife came from a family where her father worked from 9 to 5 and had weekends off," Chuck said, "but I'm on call 24 hours a day. It's hard to get used to."

Each year, Todd estimated that the funeral home handles 225 to 230 funerals a year, and helps about 100 families with pre-arranged funerals. They also offer pre-need insurance; Todd, his wife Susan and Chuck are all licensed insurance brokers.

Although Chuck has earned his license, Todd said he isn't looking to retire from the business any time soon. He worked with his father Norbert, for 25 years as a licensed funeral director before buying the business eight years ago.

And long-time service is in his blood; Charles, Todd's grandfather directed a funeral only one week before his own death in 1994 at the age of 95.

As for the business' 100th anniversary coming up next June, there are no set plans for the celebration.

"We're working on a couple of things," Todd said. We're going to try to do something nice and still dignify it."

Thinking over his lifetime with the funeral home and about the history surrounding it, Todd said that he's proud about what they've accomplished. Over the years, Hitzeman Funeral Home has become an institution in the village, gaining a reputation in the community that spans generations.

"We've buried five generations in one family," Todd said. "People come here from Crystal Lake, Kankakee, all over. We've done business with their families for so many generations, they come from an hour away."

"The only thing that I ever told my kids is that if you're going to get into a business, you have to enjoy what you are doing," Todd added.

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